Learn how to empathize with customers in call center customer service through videos and practical tips on handling different scenarios. Enhance your customer service skills for excellent customer experience.
The video discusses six different scenarios in customer service calls and how to handle them. It emphasizes the importance of starting with generic empathy statements when customers mention unfortunate events, and then personalizing responses based on the customer's cues. It also highlights the significance of listening and affirming the customer's feelings. The video provides examples of responses for scenarios where the customer is upset, happy, or in the wrong. Overall, it promotes empathetic and effective customer service.
customer ordered an oven but you
received a cutting board and she thought
it was a practical joke
in this video I've put together six mock
calls representing six different
scenarios with explanations let's begin
scenario number one
and did you register your account or did
you sign up as a guest
I signed up as a guest I don't have time
for it my employer passed away and I had
to stay in the hospital for a few days
so I haven't had the time to create my
account oh I'm so sorry to hear that my
condolences
thank you
would you like me to create an account
for you or do you prefer to log in as a
guest
um yes please that would be a great idea
that would make things easier for me all
right as you heard the agent only said
I'm so sorry to hear that my condolences
and then they moved on from there let me
tell you why there's a reason why I
understand I'm so sorry to hear that are
considered cliche because most of the
time they work and they're enough when a
customer mentions an unfortunate event
you want to start with these default
responses they are unobtrusive and
unassuming they are great initial
responses when you're still in the
process of gauging the customer's
reaction to that unfortunate event some
people just don't want to discuss their
emotions with strangers they might
happen to casually mention it in passing
but they don't want to dwell on it with
a stranger and the customer's response
was just thank you she didn't volunteer
more information so it was a cue for the
agent to just move on to the subject at
hand which was creating her account and
some of you might say these responses
are just too phony and generic to be
taken seriously by the customer
but the thing is there's also a risk of
over personalizing your message before
you even understand how the customer
feels about the situation what if she's
just she just really want to when
mention it in passing and you're already
going over the top with your empathy
statement that would make for an awkward
conversation when you're just more upset
than the customer my point is if it
ain't broke don't fix it but what if the
customer instead of just moving on from
the subject
volunteers more information says more
than thank you then that is your cue to
amp up your empathy statement let's
listen to this mock call
and did you register your account or did
you sign up as a guest
I signed up as a guest I don't have time
for it my employer passed away and I had
to stay in the hospital for a few days
so I haven't had the time to create my
account oh I'm so sorry to hear that my
condolences thank you it was such an
ordeal for him 83 years old he was
he got cancer no kids no relatives and I
was the only one with him the entire
time
I can only imagine how tough that must
be oh you have no idea there was
something about it that was just
beyond sad you know yes to see someone
dying without a family to take care of
him I'm I'm telling you I I wouldn't
wish that on my worst enemies
I think anyone can relate really I'm not
looking forward to getting old myself
and cancer is such a horrible horrible
disease and I hope you're taking care of
yourself right now thank you you're so
kind
I will be seeing my family this weekend
so that should help a lot you do that
that's a really good idea we all need
people in our lives I definitely will
and if you want I can create an account
for you so you don't have to fill out
the form would you prefer that oh that'd
be wonderful thank you honey it's just
been so hard this week of course of
course no problem at all I'm here to
help
okay so as you heard instead of just
saying thank you the customer said more
she said
thank you it was such an ordeal for him
83 years old he was he got cancer no
kids so this is a sure sign that the
customer wants a listening ear because
she's volunteering more information
about it so as you heard she said I'm
I'm really sorry to hear that I can only
imagine how tough that must be that is
definitely generic and most of the time
that would suffice that is like an
invitation for the customer to
go on say more I'm listening you don't
you definitely don't have to come up
with something unique there is a
misconception that we have to say
something unique in order to empathize
in this stage of the conversation the
agent is still inviting the customer to
say more she doesn't know anything yet
about it there's just very little
information to go by you want to invite
her to share more and unload her
feelings and then you can go from there
you can personalize your responses from
there and so when the agent heard that
she realized that the customer is super
upset about it and so she personalized
her response based on the customers
statement so she said I think anyone can
relate really to be honest I'm not
really looking forward to getting old
myself so that is a personalized empathy
statement it is the agent revealing a
certain piece of information that is
personal to her saying I'm not looking
forward to getting old myself and then
she proceeded by saying and I hope
you're taking care of yourself right now
so again she's putting the attention
focus back to the customer it's just a
series of acknowledging what the
customer feels again the customer
volunteered another information I'll be
seeing my friends and families this
weekend so that should help a lot and
then the agent said oh yes please you do
that that's a really good idea we all
need people in our lives so she's she's
just really affirming what the customer
is saying when you're empathizing that's
basically what you do you gauge the
customers feelings about a situation and
then you affirm her feelings and lend a
listening ear and then there will come a
point in the conversation where the
customer has pretty much unloaded most
of her negative feelings
so she just said I definitely will
notice that she didn't volunteer more
information about it she just said I
definitely will thank you so this is a
sign for the agent to proceed to the
subject at hand which is about creating
the account so she grabbed that
opportunity they're back at it but she
took the time to let the customer unload
her feelings and if you want to see a
mock call where the customer is highly
upset crying I have a full Mark all
about that it's about a healthcare
account where the customers husband died
recently and she doesn't have any money
to pay out of pocket for her medical
supplies so I'm gonna link it up here if
you want so scenario number three when
the customer is happy
hi I was browsing your store this
morning and um you know I'm I'm shopping
for baby dresses uh we just found out
that we're having a baby girl and I'm
just I'm so happy about that oh
congratulations that's fantastic
thank you
um so we did buy some gender neutral
colors but now that we're sure it's a
baby girl I thought hmm pink I need lots
of pink so where can I buy that um you
are just in time you know we have an
entire catalog launched just this
morning for baby girls with pink
palettes want me to send you the link
hell yes please send it to me I'm dying
to see it
the agent didn't really say anything
unique if you notice she just amped up
the enthusiasm in her voice
she just made sure that you know there's
warmth in her voice that she's happy on
behalf of the customer and that's
exactly what she did she didn't say
anything about the pregnancy she just
said congratulations which is a very
generic response but if you listen to
her voice you can see that she's super
excited for the customer and most of the
time that's enough but then if you think
that's insufficient the customer is just
so super excited and then she's
disclosing information about the
pregnancy that you're not even asking
about then that is your cue to amp up
your empathy statements so for example
you can try to recall stories about
happy pregnancies in your life maybe
you've been pregnant or your wife is
pregnant you can share stories about it
where you're excited you know you want
to mirror the customers feelings that's
wonderful I can still remember when I
was pregnant with my daughter I was so
excited I could barely contain my
emotion you know I know exactly what
you're feeling right now congratulations
things like that if you're a father you
can say that's wonderful I can still
remember when my wife was finally
pregnant with her daughter so now we get
to the harder scenarios number four is
no resolution but customer is in the
wrong and verbally abusive let's listen
I'm so sick of your company all the
inconveniences all the mishaps the
incompetence that you've been causing me
since I've been a member this is
frustrating for you I understand
initially we give a one-time exception
from missed bills and this we gave you
last March 2018 because this is the
second occurrence we will be imposing
the penalty don't me with I
understand of course you don't
understand how could you you're white
I'm an immigrant you just work there
you're paid to read off a script and
then you leave and you forget about
everything how could you possibly
understand a poor woman like me are you
in my situation huh are you a single
mother are you jobless well guess what
you are none of those things I bet you
have a man taking care of you I'm alone
how can you possibly not understand how
unfair your company is treating me right
now because you don't understand me
you're not in this situation so don't
even pretend to understand Emma we
understand that mistakes happen bills
could be left and paid for some time
deadlines could be missed that's why we
gave you a one-time exception but since
this second occurrence and this is
something I've consulted with the
management just now when I put you on
hold we believe it's fair to charge a
penalty this time and this is the final
decision of the management
so you are not going to help me is that
what you're saying I'm sorry to be the
bearer of bad news but this time we
cannot because you have reached the
limit of our exception as per our policy
I want to talk to your manager give me
your manager I'm the manager Sophie
transferred you to me no no I I want
someone higher up I am done talking to
you I don't care about you you're an
uncaring I'm gonna have to warn
you against profanities I'm the highest
contact you can talk to in this office
but I can give you the email of our CEO
he doesn't take phone calls your CEO
doesn't take phone calls he doesn't take
phone calls but he communicates to
customers via email
because I can no longer continue this
conversation you have explained our
position and a decision is final if you
have more questions in the future feel
free to call us back thank you for
calling with Sean bye
[Music]
in situations where the customer is
totally wrong and on top of that
verbally abusive acknowledge the
customers emotions but not her
manipulations
acknowledge that this must be hard for
her we understand this is hard for you
but then go back to your main point
which is we cannot do anything for you
anymore for example the customer said
here you're not a single mother you're
not jobless you're none of those things
taking it personally
the agent would say
no you have no idea about my life I am a
single mother but I'm not complaining so
that would be taking it personally but
the agent said none of those things and
then she used this voice that's very
unemotional but still professional when
you use that voice you're not yielding
to the customers unreasonable request
you're saying this is the policy and
there's nothing you can do about it but
in a professional tone
here the agent is just basically saying
one thing and one thing only and she's
just paraphrasing it throughout the
conversation shoots until the customer
understands there's nothing she can do
about it and then eventually she ended
the call alright so the next scenario is
there's still no resolution the customer
is still in the wrong but she is
relatively calmer than the previous
customer let's listen I'm so sick of
your company all the inconveniences all
the mishaps the incompetence that you've
been causing me since I've been a member
this is frustrating for you I understand
initially we give a one-time exception
from missed bills and this we gave you
last March 2018 because this is the
second occurrence we will be imposing
the panel they already told me that I I
just feel like you ought to do something
more for your longtime customers than
just a one-time exception I mean you can
do better than that that's a
ridiculously insubstantial offer for
years and years of me paying my bills on
time don't you think I deserve better
than just a one-time exception like
maybe one exception every three years
that I'm with you that'd be reasonable
don't you think I see your point you
have been with us for 10 years now
exactly this is something that I brought
up with the management today when I put
you on hold
as it turns out it was agreed that the
decision is final and that the penalty
will be charged this time
okay so in other words you don't care
about your customers okay got it
we do recognize that mistakes happen
deadlines are missed bills can be left
and paid for some time that's why we
gave you a one-time exception but for
second occurrences we would have to
charge a penalty all right I'm done with
this I gotta go
is there anything else that I can help
you with today you haven't talked to me
at all but things were nothing I wish I
could have been of help thank you for
calling question have a great day all
right so as you heard the customer
wasn't really abusive she's relatively
more peaceful than the previous customer
because the previous customer was
cursing but here she was just well she
is rude but you cannot
um hang up a phone because the customer
is rude there has to be profanities in
it and she just continued paraphrasing
her message which is this is frustrating
for you we understand but then this we
have already given you an exception so
our decision is final to not give you
any more that's what happened here less
of the cursing and then she said don't
you think that I deserve better than
just a one-time exception like maybe one
exception every three years that I'm
with you that'd be reasonable don't you
think and then the Asian said I see your
point you've been with us for 10 years
now so this is a great empathy statement
the best you can come up with in this
type of situation
um you're acknowledging the customer's
point and then she told her a story that
oh you know I actually brought that up
to the management when I saw that you've
been with it for 10 years now and and
asked if there's something could be done
but then still we cannot this will not
fully pacify her she will still be
unhappy when she hangs up with the phone
but it will not antagonize the customer
which is what you you need to prioritize
in the situation at the very least the
situation did not escalate the customer
was not led to cursing because you're
responding in a way that sticks to the
policy but still accommodates her
feelings now the last scenario is it's
the company's mistake and the customer
needs to be pacified customer ordered an
oven but you received a cutting board
and she thought it was a practical joke
it is now Monday and I have no oven but
hey I guess that's okay right because I
have a cutting board
Amber I truly understand how frustrating
this is for you I truly do I do I I know
that our shipping Department tries to
their best to keep the orders as
accurate as possible but on very rare
occasions this kind of mistake happens
from time to time and I am so sorry that
this happened to you
of course this is not an excuse and a
mistake is a mistake and right now what
I can do is to help you resolve this
issue
well they shouldn't have done that to me
it's for my son's birthday and a cutting
board for an oven I mean I mean I can
understand if you sent me an oven with
the wrong model number but a cutting
board seriously I don't know about you
but this smells like a practical joke to
me I assure you Amber what happened was
an honest mistake we would never do that
to our customers and purpose
um of course you really should have
received precisely what you ordered and
we failed on that and for that I am
truly sorry the best thing that I can do
for you now is to make sure that this
gets resolved as soon as possible well I
don't really have a choice do I so get
on with it okay so if I heard you right
your son's birthday is this coming
Thursday right yes that's right all
right here's what I'm gonna do
because you received the wrong item I
will request to have the correct item
sent out to you within 24 business hours
as you notice she apologized admitted to
the mistake but then proceeded to the
resolution this is what you need to do
when the customer is obviously right
it's unmistakably because the company's
wrongdoing Candace said we would never
do this to you this was an honest
mistake but then she that's an admission
of mistake she said yeah we apologize
we're so sorry and this is here's a
resolution depending on how upset the
customer is you're gonna have to again
paraphrase it sorry this is our mistake
here's our resolution sorry mistake
resolution until the customer cools down
to make the resolution happen let me
just give you more examples I sincerely
apologize for this disruption this is
definitely not what we want you to
experience let me fix this for you as
soon as I can
and then you explain the steps to the
resolutions you ask questions if needed
but the main purpose of this
format is to just own up to the mistake
so that the customer can get over her
her negative feelings and focus on
reason focus on the resolution another
example I'm sorry that you had to deal
with this normally prior to packaging
the shipping the shipping team checks
and ensures that each order is accurate
there has been an error in your case
and I can only imagine how worried you
are right now with the wedding date
approaching fast here's what I can do
for you
and then resolution if you want to see
this in action I'm going to link it up
here this particular mock call or if you
want
um check out my mob call playlist so let
me just summarize everything and if you
want to take this screenshot go right
ahead this is your chance
all right everyone that's all for today
I hope you got something useful from
this video
and if you have more questions if you
want me to create more scenarios
um comment below and let me know this
these are the scenarios that I can think
of are the most common but there could
definitely be more and if it's common
enough for you then I will create a
video about it
all right thank you for watching bye
In this blog post, we will discuss various scenarios that customer support agents may encounter and provide tips on how to handle them effectively. Additionally, we will explore the impact that these interactions can have on customer support.
When a customer mentions an unfortunate event, such as the loss of a loved one, it is important to respond with empathy. One approach is to start with a generic response like "I'm so sorry to hear that, my condolences." This allows the customer to gauge if they want to share more information or prefer to move on from the subject. If the customer does volunteer more information, it is appropriate to personalize your response and offer support.
In some situations, customers may want to express their emotions to a support agent. In these cases, it is crucial to be a good listener and affirm their feelings. Start with a generic empathetic response like "I can only imagine how tough that must be." If the customer continues to share their emotions, personalize your response based on their statements. This creates a connection with the customer and shows that you understand their situation.
When a customer shares happy news, such as a pregnancy announcement, it is essential to respond with genuine enthusiasm. Congratulate the customer and share in their excitement. While a generic response like "Congratulations, that's fantastic!" may be sufficient, consider personalizing your response by sharing a similar positive experience if the opportunity arises.
In cases where customers become verbally abusive or confrontational, it is important to maintain professionalism. Stay calm and reassure the customer that you understand their frustration. However, if the abuse continues, it may be necessary to set boundaries and inform the customer of the consequences of their behavior. Always prioritize the wellbeing and safety of both the customer and support agent.
Effective communication and empathy play a significant role in customer support. Showing empathy helps build trust and improves customer satisfaction. By acknowledging the customer's emotions and providing genuine support, agents can foster positive relationships and create a more pleasant customer experience. On the other hand, not handling delicate situations properly may lead to unsatisfied customers and potential damage to the company's reputation.
Overall, customer support agents should be trained to handle various scenarios with care, empathy, and professionalism. By understanding the customer's emotions and responding appropriately, agents can turn challenging situations into opportunities to build trust and improve customer satisfaction.
Sympathy is often defined as feeling sorry for someone's situation, while empathy involves the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It's important to note that while both sympathy and empathy involve understanding and acknowledging the emotions of others, empathy goes a step further by actively engaging with those emotions. In a call center setting, the ability to demonstrate empathy can lead to more meaningful interactions and better customer satisfaction.
Empathy can be shown through tone of voice, language choice, and offering personalized solutions. In a call center, showing empathy involves actively engaging with the customer, acknowledging their emotions, and responding with understanding. For example, using phrases like "I understand how frustrating that must be" or "I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing this issue" can demonstrate empathy.
Empathy is important in a call center because it helps build rapport and trust with customers. This can lead to a more positive customer experience and can help to de-escalate potentially difficult situations. Additionally, empathetic interactions can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, as customers feel understood and valued.
Practicing empathy involves actively listening to the customer, acknowledging their feelings, and responding with genuine concern and understanding. This may involve using active listening techniques, showing empathy through tone of voice and language, and offering appropriate solutions or support. For example, empathy might be demonstrated by acknowledging a customer's frustration with a product issue and offering a sincere apology and a resolution.
Empathy in a call center refers to the ability of the customer service representative to understand the feelings of the customer they are interacting with. This involves actively listening to the customer, acknowledging their emotions, and responding with compassion and understanding.
Mock Call with an Irate Customer with Call Flow Guide
Businesses can improve customer service by creating custom call flows to guide calls through the phone system. Understanding the call flow can lead to quick and reliable service, enhancing customer satisfaction. Handling abusive customers and resolving issues efficiently can also strengthen businesses. LiveAgent can help businesses manage incoming calls and automate processes to provide excellent customer service.
How to Avoid Dead Air on Calls
To avoid dead air during calls, engage in small talk, update the customer on the situation, and familiarize yourself with common issues. These tactics can improve customer satisfaction and support.
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